Enniskillen Cuchulainns

[you take er!]

Reading The Irish News today i came on piece about the Enniskillen Cuhulainns.The piece was accompanied by a photograph of the team on the Croke Park surface. For those who are not aware of this phenomenon, it is a squad which is made up of young people from a mixture of schools and backgrounds, in this case, all in the Enniskillen area- Protestant, Catholic and Integrated who have - and i quote "..little or no experience playing football before getting involved" This squad will now travel to Long Island NY to compete in the U.16 Continental Youth Championships. This follows hot on the heals of the Belfast Cuchulianns project which was similar but focused on Belfast schools. I had previously heard about the Belfast Cuchulianns when attending the Club Maith seminar at the Europa a couple of years ago where it was introduced and explained to club delegates along with a slide show of their visit to the states (in this case they visited more than one city)

On each occasion the emotions i felt were annoyance and even anger. Although it is only right and proper to spread the word of our games and open our games up to all of Irish society, are there not more prudent ways of doing this than taking a squad of 20 along with a clutch of mentors (Ulster council faces i recognised from the slides) to the other side of the world ? These young people never played the game before this year...at 16 what are the chances of them continuing to play GAA beyond this trip? slim to none i would've thought - therefore what has been achieved regarding the promotion of our games?

What about Young people of that age who have trained and played the game since the age of 6/7? where is their reward or trip to the states? Where is their trip to Croke Park? This is a clear PR stunt by the Ulster Council to recieve funding... if they were serious about promoting the games there are more practical, and might i suggest cheaper, ways of doing so ie targeting coaching in non gaa primary and seconday schools and helping provide links between those schools and their local clubs. At least that way there would be a chance of them continuing to play the game - this IMO will achieve nothing as regards furthering the reach of the GAA and results only in a free trip to the states for the Ulster Council guys...

Anyone who has attended McKenna Cup games this year and paid extortionate prices or tried to get a family ticket for the Ulster Championship without success...perhaps now we know the reason.

[Zulu]

In fairness, I think something like this will help keep kids involved. While I agree grassroot coaching in non-traditional GAA schools and areas must be the priority I do think these types of trips excite and inspire kids and should be extended to many more kids. Trips to Europe are as cheap as travelling within Ireland so I'd like to see underage teams head to Britain and mainland Europe more often.

[you take er!]

I agree with taking kids to Europe/Britain, but not ones who are not going to play the game again. This is nothing short of a Junkett for the top Ulster Council bods.

[Maguire01]

This is a clear PR stunt by the Ulster Council to recieve funding...

If the Ulster Council is attracting funding through this...

Anyone who has attended McKenna Cup games this year and paid extortionate prices or tried to get a family ticket for the Ulster Championship without success...perhaps now we know the reason.

Anyway, I see no problem with spending some money on PR - stunt or not. Even if there is limited uptake on the games from Protestant school children afterwards, it will no doubt give them a different perception of the GAA than they may otherwise have had.

[Denn Forever]

Lucky sods.

Ulster GAA's Cross Community Team to travel to Boston
26 July 2011

A cross community GAA team from Roe Valley have been selected to represent Ulster GAA at this year's Continental Youth Championships in Boston, USA.

This is part of Ulster GAA's hugely successful cross community project the Cúchulainn Cup. In its fourth year, the Cúchulainn Cup is growing from strength to strength. This is Ulster GAA's flagship cross community project which brings together young people from non-GAA backgrounds through the medium of Gaelic Games. The project aims to promote good community relations while also promoting Gaelic Games to those who normally wouldn't get the opportunity to participate in the sport.

The Roe Valley Cúchulainn team is made-up of pupils from St Patrick's College, Dungiven; Limavady High School, Limavady Grammar School, St Mary's College, Limavady and Rossmar Special School.

Preparation for the Boston trip is well under-way with the team training twice a week under the watchful eye of Ulster GAA Regional Development Officer and coach Paul Callaghan.

Recently the team joined Ulster GAA Provincial Secretary Danny Murphy to travel to the GAA's iconic home of Croke Park in Dublin. This special visit provided the team an opportunity to experience the importance of the GAA in Ireland as they received a personalised tour of Croke Park Museum, Grounds and had the opportunity to get out on the hallow turf, an honour usually reserved for Ireland's greatest teams and players.

Speaking after the event Danny Murphy stated, "I was delighted to travel to Croke Park with the Roe Valley Cúchulainn team in preparation for their trip to Boston to compete in the Continental Youth Championships. Ulster GAA is very proud of our flagship cross community initiative, the Cúchulainn Cup, which helps promote Good Relations while at the same time helps raise awareness and interest in Gaelic Games to those from non GAA backgrounds.

"The Roe Valley Cúchulainn team and mentors will travel to Boston next week for a trip of a lifetime. The boys will have the honour of representing their school, the Roe Valley area and Ulster as they compete in the Continental Youth Championships. When they pull on their specially commissioned O'Neills jersey they will be playing together as a team and as friends, regardless of their background, beliefs or ability. That is something very special and is something Ulster GAA will continue to cherish and promote."

"I commend the five schools participating in this initiative and I commend the families of all the boys who are playing their part in building peace and good relations."

Roe Valley Cúchulainns will travel to Boston on Monday 1st August for a one week trip which will focus on America's biggest GAA competition - the Continental Youth Championships, as part of the trip the team will also get to see Boston's major attractions including Fenway Park. The travelling party will include 5 teachers, Ulster GAA staff and Ulster GAA Officers.

[neilthemac]

The travelling party will include 5 teachers, Ulster GAA staff and Ulster GAA Officers.

good to see the GAA shirts looking after themselves nicely.
how much will that cost to send the officers over?

[armaghniac]

how much will that cost to send the officers over?

Such is the state of things in the wee 6 that it may not cost anything, in the sense that the funding for this project might cover it and that funding wouldn't be available otherwise.
In the present public finance environment you have to wonder how long you can continue to bribe people not to be bigoted.